After trying out the Dungeon Siege 3 demo it has left me hankering for a new action RPG to sink some time into and break a few mice over. The problem is I've played most of the obvious choices (Sacred, Titan Quest, Diablo etc). I'm sure the fine folks of RPS could come up with a few obscurer recommendations.

Old or new, I don't mind which. Although if it is an older game you are recommending, it'd be nice if you could include how well it runs on modern systems, what tinkering is required, or if it is on gog (that'd be handy).

DarkNoghri

11-06-2011, 10:09 PM

Torchlight?

Creeping Death

11-06-2011, 10:12 PM

Torchlight?

Ah, probably should have included that one as it's quite popular. Already played it. Great game actually. But at least it's the right sort of game xD

EndelNurk

11-06-2011, 10:21 PM

This isn't my area of expertise but I've just done a little RPS searching and either of the following might be up your street. As I say, I've not played them or even know anybody who has played them so I cannot speak for quality at all.

Dragon Age 2. Haven't played it, but i heard it's a lot more hack & slash than the first one.

vinraith

11-06-2011, 10:41 PM

Din's Curse is pretty great, though it's a bit graphically primitive. Sort of a cross between and roguelike and an action RPG, with dynamic events and procedurally generated everything. I've been really enjoying it, but it may or may not be your cup of tea. Give the demo a try, and stick with it long enough to get at least a sense of the dynamic world (which is the real selling point here).

http://www.soldak.com/Dins-Curse/Overview.html

You've got to love a world where one of the town vendors can turn out to have secretly been worshipping the dark gods, poisoned the town water supply, then fled into the labyrinth beneath town, all with no scripting.

Ignorant Texan

11-06-2011, 10:42 PM

While I imagine you're asking about games available now, I've been keeping my eyes on Grim Dawn. It's by the same team that developed TQ.

http://crateentertainment.com/games.php

8-bit

11-06-2011, 11:03 PM

I can say that I did enjoy sacred gold a while back, its played from the same perspective and from what I remember is kind of similar to those type of games but with a more open world to explore rather than the strict linear progression of a torchlight or titan quest.

cheap this weekend on GOG too.

Kelron

11-06-2011, 11:05 PM

I own both Sacred and Sacred 2 but never played either. I don't generally get on well with action RPGs but the open world aspect intrigues me, which one is more worth playing of the two?

8-bit

11-06-2011, 11:15 PM

I didn't know there was a second game :\

it is an open world though, and all the classes start in a different part of the world with their own backstory, and it has horse back combat too! at least I think it has horseback combat, its been a few years.

Creeping Death

11-06-2011, 11:44 PM

Gave the Din's Curse demo a shot. Seems like a really fun game that I could see myself sinking many hours into. Unfortunately it also made my computer lock up, a problem I'm pretty sure is my computers fault (one I used to have with 2d games, and I thought I had fixed :/). A shame.

I have Sacred 2, played it for a few hours. Decent enough game but something about it never really "clicked" for me. Can anyone that has played both tell me how the original compares to the sequel? I remember hearing at the time a lot of people were disappointed in Sacred 2.

EndelNurk

11-06-2011, 11:54 PM

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale has an action RPG side (in the loosest possible sense). I'm sure it's not what you're looking for but I put it out there as an oddball choice. There's a demo available, I think.

I vastly prefer the original Sacred to the sequel - the sequel is a lot "emptier".

However, my wife and me gave up frustrated with Sacred 1 when her characterfile got corrupted by nothing else than trying some horsecombat after we put around 40 hours of gameplay in. Never touched it since.

vinraith

12-06-2011, 02:47 AM

Gave the Din's Curse demo a shot. Seems like a really fun game that I could see myself sinking many hours into. Unfortunately it also made my computer lock up, a problem I'm pretty sure is my computers fault (one I used to have with 2d games, and I thought I had fixed :/). A shame.

I have Sacred 2, played it for a few hours. Decent enough game but something about it never really "clicked" for me. Can anyone that has played both tell me how the original compares to the sequel? I remember hearing at the time a lot of people were disappointed in Sacred 2.

Hmm, sorry to hear the Din's demo gave you trouble. It's a game that's received an enormous amount of post release support, (current version is 1.024) but it'd obviously be impossible to say if the new patches would help your issue without being able to try them.

As to Sacred 2, I have to second Vexing Vision. It's a neat game, lots of crazy stuff in it, but its scope considerably outreaches its depth. The world is huge, but enormously empty, and I say that as someone who has very nearly never met an open world he didn't like.

Hensler

12-06-2011, 04:04 AM

Space Siege. Seriously.

icupnimpn2

12-06-2011, 04:07 AM

Ever play Divine Divinity? It's still quite beloved.

amandachen

12-06-2011, 04:09 AM

Throne of Darkness. Anyone remember this one? It's like a Japanese bestiary come to life.
http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/19374-throne-of-darkness-windows-screenshot-well-this-was-pretty.jpg

Seal of Evil. A bit slow-moving and easy. The sequel (I think) to a game called Prince of Qin
http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/122854-seal-of-evil-windows-screenshot-cloudrose-village-where-the.jpg

And of course NOX
http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/4535-nox-windows-screenshot-cities-and-buildings-are-really-nice.jpg

BobsLawnService

12-06-2011, 05:56 AM

You've probably played it but if you haven't then Dungeon Seige 2 is underreated in my opinion.

DarkNoghri

12-06-2011, 06:21 AM

Ah, probably should have included that one as it's quite popular. Already played it. Great game actually. But at least it's the right sort of game xD

I figured you had, as it's one of the popular well known ones, but I threw it out there because you didn't mention it.

And it's about as deep as my knowledge of the genre goes. Aside from the Diablos and Titan Quest (which I actually just installed for the first time a day or two ago).

Hocevar

12-06-2011, 08:25 AM

Space Siege. Seriously.

I actually thought it was pretty good.

A bit too boring and repetitive after some time, though let's be honest most aRPGs are, but fun nonetheless.

pkt-zer0

12-06-2011, 09:35 AM

Going to recommend the Tales of Destiny remake on the PS2, an action-RPG with actual tactics and strategy to it. Supposedly works just fine in an emulator as well. Here's a promo video (http://tinyurl.com/yhbqsh) to check out in case you're wondering what it plays like (skip to 1:45 for the combat).

Flint

12-06-2011, 10:03 AM

I'm seconding Throne of Darkness. It's definitely a good one (though far from perfect I must add) and it's really distinct and unique in its design which makes it even more fun.

Faceless

12-06-2011, 10:37 AM

Does Magicka qualify? It's fairly low on loot, and there's nary any sense of character-wise progression besides acquisition of spells (magicks), so it's closer to being an action adventure. Yet by inserting itself into the world of RPGs with satire, it feels like an action RPG.

Most of the technical issues it suffered from have been resolved by now, and there's a demo (http://store.steampowered.com/app/42910/) on Steam.

Anthile

12-06-2011, 10:41 AM

NOX. NOX. NOX.

(okay, I only typed that three times because it said I need at least ten characters)

Riaktion

12-06-2011, 11:21 AM

Space Siege. Seriously.

Boooooooooo

Could not disagree more.. :o)

archonsod

12-06-2011, 11:22 AM

Divinity II : The Dragon Knight Saga. It's pretty damn good.
Konung 3 is worth a look simply because it has some light management elements thrown in to the standard ARPG mix.
Sacred / Sacred 2 are personally my picks of the entire genre. Massive open world to explore at your whim, oodles of sidequests and of course a main quest to pick up or ignore as you please. Sacred is a little more trad-fantasy, the sequel is a bit more oddball. Sacred 2 would definitely be my choice of the two, but the system requirements are a little hefty and some dislike the move from trad-tolkienesque fantasy.
Oh, and Depths of Peril is worth a go if you want something different, as is Hinterlands.

But if you can wait , go for Torchlight 2 that will be released soonish , and will have multiplayer

Hensler

12-06-2011, 02:32 PM

Hinterlands is good, but I have yet to try the Orcs expansion. It's another one that adds some management and city building elements to the game.

lunarplasma

12-06-2011, 02:37 PM

Mount and Blade counts, doesn't it?

Does Warband have campaign multiplayer now, btw?

archonsod

12-06-2011, 06:51 PM

Not as such. There's a couple of persistent world mods tho.

dhex

12-06-2011, 07:05 PM

din's curse - uggo, but i enjoyed it far more than torchlight.

Creeping Death

12-06-2011, 07:30 PM

Wow getting lots of suggestions here xD

At the moment the one's standing out for me are Divine Divinity (played the 2nd, but overlooked the first) and maybe the first Sacred.

Sorely tempted to try my luck and buy Din's Curse in the hope the full game is more stable for me than the demo... :/

8-bit

12-06-2011, 08:02 PM

the expansion for din's curse is half price on gamersgate for the next twelve hours or so, and the developers seem to have a 30 day money back guarantee if you buy direct from them, not sure how they would work that but there it is.

you could get divine divinity and sacred gold for less than a tenner though, depends how much you are willing to spend I suppose.

vinraith

12-06-2011, 08:07 PM

I'd forgotten about the 30 day money back guarantee, but that's a good point. Soldak's good people, too, I'm confident they'd treat you well if you had a problem.

The other options are decidedly cheaper, though, so as 8-bit says it's a matter of what you want to spend. Those are all excellent options.

Timecigar

12-06-2011, 09:32 PM

Just wanted to add that to run Divine Divinity in higher resolutions than 1024x768, you must use the configtool.exe in the gamedirectory. Might only work for the GOG version.